Best Cocktail Bars in the world
1. Basalt, Berlin
Botanical cocktail bar with green-tiled walls and plants suspended from the ceiling. The seasonal menu focuses on proprietary drinks. Arrive early on weekends to secure a seat.
Botanical cocktail bar with green-tiled walls and plants suspended from the ceiling. The seasonal menu focuses on proprietary drinks. Arrive early on weekends to secure a seat.
Experimental El Born cocktail bar styled as an old apothecary, packed with illuminated jars and working stills. Bartenders work the busy main counter, mixing house-distilled spirits and complex ferments ordered from a flavor map.
Two-story Sant Antoni record shop and bar pouring natural wine alongside bins of vinyl. Floor cushions fill up early for tapas and cocktails while DJs play funk and electronic at a volume built for conversation.
Intimate El Born cocktail bar mixing global spices into complex drinks. Bartenders shake heavily infused spirits like curry rum, passing drinks and small tapas across a warmly lit counter.
Dark, intimate cocktail lounge on the upper floors of a century-old Chinatown shophouse. A tiny two-person elevator opens into black lacquered rooms and a rooftop terrace serving theatrical drinks and late-night small plates.
Third-floor Song Wat listening bar pouring craft cocktails to a steady rotation of vinyl soul and funk. Seating splits between a warm indoor room and an open balcony where DJs spin records against old town sunset views.
Dimly lit basement cocktail bar hidden behind an antique medicine cabinet. Bartenders mix herb-infused drinks under low beams while live jazz fills the century-old apothecary vault.
Pioneering Bangkok lesbian bar pouring zodiac-themed cocktails under a cozy, starry-sky ceiling. Weekend drag shows and late-night karaoke keep the room loud, while the owner actively makes introductions across tables.
Light-filled 40th-floor workspace with panoramic skyline views and an active, music-heavy atmosphere. Laptops cover the desks until 6 p.m., when changing lights signal a sharp shift to cocktails and live DJs.
Sleek 16-seat cocktail bar pouring gem-inspired drinks across a dark wood counter. Bartenders talk through the story behind each glass alongside bites of wagyu and tempura oysters.
Warm second-floor Ekkamai bar pairing rich Wagyu bowls with song-themed cocktails. The room runs late under a disco ball, with weekend DJs playing steady sets for long, relaxed evenings.
Intimate Ekkamai record bar tucked downstairs behind a red door. The warm, wood-lined room pours custom fermented cocktails while vinyl DJs spin jazz, disco, and house through a high-end sound system.
Hidden music venue and cocktail bar set up like a dark hunter's lodge with animal taxidermy and heavy red lighting. Bands take the stage late in the evening, running through live sets of blues, soul, and post-rock.
Retro-styled Sukhumvit cocktail lounge running steady DJ sets against glossy red and black interiors. The menu moves in rounds, shifting from light yuja highballs to heavy black sesame drinks and kimchi pork croquettes.
Hazard-orange Thonglor discotheque built from five tons of upcycled industrial plastic. The space shifts from a daytime cafe into a high-fidelity room with a sprung checkerboard dance floor and heavy late-night DJ sets.
Dark, Tokyo-style speakeasy tucked behind an Ekkamai pizza shop with a small Japanese garden sitting directly behind the bar. Bartenders pour highly technical, themed cocktails in an intimate room set to live jazz.
Fourteen-meter red travertine counter stretching across a former brutalist school library. Bartenders mix contemporary Italian cocktails alongside small plates of black brioche and complimentary golden-hour carbonara.
Multi-level Indiranagar bar centered on a plant-filled rooftop with a retractable roof. Relaxed afternoon service gives way to loud, crowded evening sessions driven by house cocktails and global sharing plates.
Warm, dog-friendly Södermalm cocktail bar running with the ease of a friend's apartment. Bartenders mix complex drinks across a lowered counter, keeping the room casual and conversational.
Intimate cocktail spot channeling the energy of 1960s Rio. Bartenders work without a fixed menu to mix bespoke requests and sharp classics while bossa nova fills the small, often crowded room.
Rowdy cocktail den in the Army Museum serving experimental tasting menus instead of classics. Crayons sit on paper tablecloths for scribbling between rounds of complex drinks and loud hip-hop.
Dining room set under the heavy stone arches of the Army Museum serving modern plates and cocktails. It gets loud under the vaults, while the courtyard terrace stays busy with drop-in drinkers and dogs.
Sophisticated cocktail bar neighbors the Royal Opera House’s gilded dining hall. The room stays quiet enough for conversation, pouring precise drinks and rare wines from the cellar.
Unpretentious bar serving classic cocktails and natural wines with the familiarity of a friend's living room. Free popcorn is a given, and smoking is allowed inside.
Neukölln gastro bar pairing precise cocktails with a kitchen running until midnight. Walk-ins crowd the tables for shared rounds of lamb tacos and crispy potatoes.
Bright, modernist bar on Frankfurter Allee pairing a custom sound system with a deep agave selection. DJs play in the high-ceilinged room while the bar pours mezcal and tequila.
Unmarked black doors hide a dark, Art Deco cocktail den. A ring of the bell grants entry to the seated-only room, a quiet spot for conversation and complex drinks.
Queer-friendly 11th arrondissement cocktail bar pouring clever drinks and serving late-night Palestinian small plates. Pale walls and a stone counter glow under soft lighting, keeping the room cozy for long dates and shared flatbreads.
Intimate 11th arrondissement bar lined with large glass jars of house-infused rums. The relaxed room pours sweet carambar and skull-marked chili blends alongside simple charcuterie boards.
Cocktail bar hidden behind a poster-covered storefront on Rue du Faubourg Saint-Denis. The dim, concrete-lined room runs on a steady hip-hop soundtrack, pouring cocktails made exclusively with traditional French spirits.
Boutique hotel balancing Japanese simplicity and Parisian opulence: rooms feature iroko wood, straw walls, and bicolored marble. The bar specializes in cocktails made exclusively from French and Japanese spirits.
Former 19th-century pharmacy turned corner cocktail bar in the 9th arrondissement. Natural wine-based cocktails and plates of octopus carpaccio slide across the white marble counter and out to a large sidewalk terrace.
Casual ground-floor bar and bottle shop set around a large communal table, pouring natural wines and regional French spirits. The room doubles as the entrance to an intimate, farm-to-glass cocktail bar down in the limestone cellar.
Four-story cocktail house occupying a 17th-century building in Saint-Germain. Three bars and a Rizzoli bookshop spread across the levels, topped by a rooftop kiosk for drinks and open-air cinema.
Dimly lit cocktail speakeasy behind a discreet wooden door in Saint-Germain-des-Prés. Theatrical, fabric-draped rooms operate at two speeds, keeping the ground floor loud with a DJ while the upstairs runs as a moody, low-slung lounge.
Hidden cocktail bar under the Vintry & Mercer hotel serving barrel-aged drinks and small plates. Velvet chairs and leather banquettes fill the dark, 1920s-style room as early happy hours stretch into quiet date nights.
Scruffy, unmarked door on Gerrard Street hides a dark, two-floor den of plush velvet and mirrors. Complex cocktails arrive at low tables in the dim light, while DJs turn the intimate room louder and looser.
Raw, candlelit Soho basement bar pouring highballs and classic cocktails under a former chapel. Loud, live jazz and soul sessions regularly pack the bare concrete, walk-in-only room.
Historic Georgian townhouse hotel with quiet, 1920s-inspired rooms and a classic French restaurant. Downstairs, the Champagne Bar channels the building's past with low lighting and a discreet buzz.
Subterranean cocktail bar hidden beneath the Hippodrome Casino behind an unmarked door. Bartenders pour ultra-cold freezer martinis and complex classic riffs alongside Hong Kong-style bites in a vintage, velvet-lined room.
Jewel-toned Mayfair dining room serving modern Peruvian plates alongside Pisco infusions and loud music. Meals start with tableside guacamole and fresh ceviche before DJs turn the space into a heavy party late into the night.
Intimate St. James's hotel bar with overstuffed chairs and vintage portraits. White-jacketed staff wheel a trolley tableside to pour frozen spirits into icy glasses for an exceptionally stiff martini.
Discreet Mayfair members' club designed like a lavish Parisian apartment. Velvet booths and lamp-lit tables fill up for late-night cocktails, with a hidden passageway running straight to the dining room next door.
Victorian pub turned Bombay-style restaurant and drinking den on Portobello Road. The lively ground floor runs on cocktails and carrom, while the calmer upstairs dining room serves shared plates of black daal and chicken ruby.
Intimate Notting Hill bistro serving roast chicken and steak au poivre in a candlelit dining room. Downstairs, a jewel-toned bar pours late cocktails on velvet banquettes.
Plush hotel cocktail bar built around a roaring fireplace, velvet armchairs, and shelves of antique books. Live jazz plays nightly while bartenders mix inventive cocktails under marble walls covered in bold caricatures.
Multi-level cocktail bar pouring house-infused drinks alongside artisan pizzas. Hanging books and dark wood line the main room, while a heated courtyard terrace stays busy with after-work drinks well into the evening.
Subterranean Fitzrovia cocktail bar pouring modern classic drinks and serving small plates across copper tables. The low-lit room shifts gears later in the evening with live jazz and late-night DJ sets.
Two-story Dalston pub shifting from early dinners into loud, late-night DJ sets. East Asian pub plates and natural wine take up the ground floor, while a low-lit basement cocktail lounge runs late on a hi-fi sound system.
Dark, lively Cuban dining room in Dalston serving traditional tapas and strong classic cocktails. Rhythmic music runs through the room as tables split plates of braised beef and rounds of mojitos.
